Automobile door opening and closing device



jam 2, 1923.

R. L. HEASLIP; AUTOMOBILE DooR OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE.

FILED MAY 8 I922 2, inset.

ROBERT L. HEASLIP,

AU IQT ZOTSILE DOQF.

Application filed To all 'tU/i' om it 1121:;1/ cone-c1112 Be it knownthat L. HEASLIP, a subject of the inn oi Great Britain, residing atll"""1llil0ll ll1 the county ott'l' entworth and Province of Ont rio.Canada, has invented certain new i d usetul linpi= wements in.lutomobile Door llpening and (losing Devices, of which the following;is a specification.

li invention relate automobile door openi nisin. and more particulerlj.to opening and closing one or the toi from the drivers compar entconsists essentially c t a door rigid on a perpendicule shacttattending: w the car flooring and to which beneath the flooring secued aquadrant near meshed with a rack slidably operated by a pivoted handlever.

The principal object of the invention is to provide means in a taxi-cabor chauft'eured private car oy which one of the tonneau or passengercompartment ooors, preferably that on the curb side of the car. or both,may be opened and closed by the driver without his leaving drivingposition.

A further objectis to provide means in car door opening and closingmechanism of the class specified which actuate to unlatch the doorbefore opening it and to latch it atter closing it.

A still further object is to provide means tor opening and closing thedoor by the passengers independently ot the driver or driv ersmechanism, by the provision f an ordinary latch control.

Another object is to provide such a device which will be simple,durable, eiiioient in operation and inexpensive to manufacture.

These, together with other objects which will hereinafter becomeapparent, ma 7 be by the construction. combination and ngement of theparts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, and pointed out in the claims hereunto t Jended.

Referring to the drawing Figure 1 is a perspective view of the entiredevice shown as attached to a car, the flooring; and curb-side of tiecar being shown, a portion oi. which is broken away to reveal themechanism:

Figure 2 is an enlarged detailed perspective view of the quadrant gearand rack. connection [-1 t0 improvements ll 1 1 an ClOSl lar rotaQPEIJING AND Serial No. 559,205.

Figure 3 is a sectional top view of the. door; and

Figure at is a detailed side elevation of door latch.

nilar characters of reference refer to parts throughout the severalviews. Figure l is shown a portion oi the floornd the curb-side B of acar. the fortbeing removed for an unobstructed view oi the mechanism.The right hand or curl door of the tonneau, indicated by C, is rigidlymounted upon the perpendicurotatable shaft journalled in a bearing.-ecnred for example to the bottom of the the tr; ard

i a co lglfii on the lower end part of the shaft 2 beneath the floorings a quadrant gear l adapted to mesh with a. rack 5 termed in the rearend part of a draw bar 6 slidably mounted in sleeves 7 secured to thebottom o't said floorin A hand lever S, bifurcated at its lower end -sindicated by 9, is tulcrumed in a slotted member 10 rigid on theflooring A in the drivers compartment, which slot in said memberregisters with a correspond ing slot in the flooring permitting saidlever to extend beneath.

The bifurcations 9 of the lever 8 engage a pin 11 extending horizontallyfrom thet'orward end oi the draw 38.1 6 as shown in Che perpcin'licularshaft 2 is provided w "'"h a sleeve liladapted to independently rotatethereon. The sleeve 12 is provided end part, and progecting to a pointbetween two pins 14:and 15 r gid on the draw bar 6,

and adapted to contact with either one or the other depending on whethersaid draw bar is moved forward or backward.

The upper end of the sleeve 19, has eccentrio pivotal connection with arod 16 whose opposite end is connected to the sliding door latch 17. Therod 16, which is confined within the door C. enters the hollow latch 17through a hole 18 in its rear end. and a nut 19 is threaded on the endof said rod against the interior of the latch.

When it is desired to open the door 0 the draw bar 6 is slightly movedin a forwardly direction by rearward pressure upon the handle of thehand lever 8. This action causes the pin 15 to engage the end oi the arm18 which rotates the sleeve 12 clockwise therewith at its lower 1 entirelimit.

- To bring the door to a closed position the direction'upon the handlever 8 is reversed. When the door is fully closed, and the rack 5demeshed with the quadrant gear 4, the backward movement of the draw bar6 is continued. The pin 14 engages the opposite edge of the arm 13 withthe result of relatching the door.

yIt may he sometimes desirablefor the passengers to open and close thedoor of their own accord. For this purpose 1 provide the customarymechanism which may be operated independently, and comprises ahorizontally disposed rocker shaft Q0 journalled in the door immediatelybelow the latch 17', the ends of which shaft may be provided withsuitable grips 21 for rotating it. Rigid on the shaft 20 are normallyperpendicularly disposed pins 22 engaging lateral horizontal pins 23rigid on the latch 17.

By rotatin the shaft 20 clockwise the latch is withdrawn from itssocket, and a spring 24; issprovided for returning the latch to normalposition when the grips 21. are released.

It will be observed that aduplicate device I may be provided to open andclose the other tonneau door, which may be operated simultaneously bythe same hand lever, or be operated independently as desired.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

In automobile tonneau door opening bar adapted to engage said arm whenthe draw bar moves backwardly, a slidable door latch, and a rodconnected to said latch and eccentrically pivoted at its opposite end tosaid sleeve.

2. In automobile tonneau door opening and closing mechanism, aperpendicularly disposed rotatable shaft, a tonneau door rigidly mountedon the shaft, a drawbar slidably mounted beneath the floor of theautomobile, a rack integral with said draw bar,

a gear rigid on said shaft and adapted to mesh with said. rack, a sleeveindependently rotatable around said shaft, an arm integral with saidsleeve extending to said draw bar, a pin rigid on said draw bar adaptedto ensaid arm when the draw bar moves forwardly, a second pin rigid onsaid draw bar adapted to engage said arm when the draw bar moves baclzwardly, a slidable door latch, a rod connected to said latch andeccentrically pivoted at its opposite end to said sleeve, and means foroperating said latch independently of the movement oi? said rod.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

' ROBERT L. HEASLIP. Witnesses H. G. HENDRY, V. D. EARLE.

